Open Discussion Of Sexual Matters' Urged In Schools

October 23, 1985|by HAL MARCOVITZ, The Morning Call

Americans may enjoy one of the most sophisticated educational systems in the world, but a leader in the family planning movement says their schools don't go far enough in providing sex education to teens.

Jeannie I. Rosoff, speaking in Doylestown yesterday at the annual dinner of the Planned Parenthood Association of Bucks County, said many European countries provide better sex education and services, which statistics show result in lower teen pregnancy rates.

"If you want kids to protect themselves, there has to be some open discussion of sexual matters," she said. "This may disturb some people, but the cost of not doing this is clearly a higher rate of teen-age pregnancy."

Rosoff, a lawyer educated in Paris, is the president of the New York-based Alan Guttmacher Institute, which promotes family planning. The institute recently completed a two-year study on the rates and reasons for teen pregnancy in 36 countries, including the United States.

Rosoff said many Americans have the misconception that teen pregnancy is a problem most serious among poor black youths.

If the number of teen pregnancies among blacks were separated from national statistics, Rosoff said, "the number of white pregnancies would still be double than in most other countries."

The institute also looked at social groups where religious education is stressed. Here, she said, teens who have been motivated to attend church regularly have just as many unwanted pregnancies as others.

While Rosoff believes schools should step up their sex education programs, she also said the government should do more to promote use of contraceptives. For example, she said, contraceptives are available free of charge to youths in Great Britain.

Nine years ago, she said, Sweden liberalized its abortion laws. The government feared that the action could lead to more abortions among young people, so it put more emphasis on sex education.

"Since the law was liberalized, the teen-age abortion rate has diminished," she said.

Ruth Laibstain, executive director of Bucks County Planned Parenthood, said there are fewer teen pregnancies in Bucks County on an annual basis than what is average in the nation.

The national average, she said, is one pregnancy for every 13 girls. In Bucks County, the average is one in 18.

Yet, Laibstain said, schools could do more. She praised the sex education programs in the Council Rock and Neshaminy districts, but the "rest are downhill."